Ms. Dao Thi Hai and Mr. Nguyen Van Phu (both born in 1991, from Tuyen Quang) are currently working as workers at Trung Dung Company Limited (Thanh Liet ward industrial cluster, Hanoi). The total salary of Ms. Hai and Mr. Phu is about 18 million VND/month, of which Mr. Phu's salary is 10 million VND.
Ms. Hai said that the couple rented a house a few hundred meters from the company, so they could easily save on fuel to travel; the couple had lunch at the company. "We only have to worry about dinner, rent and electricity and water every month," said Ms. Hai.
Ms. Hai calculated that the monthly rent is 1.8 million VND; the electricity and water bill is about 500,000 VND; the couple's every dinner fee is limited to 35,000 VND/person. "I definitely do not spend more than 5 million VND/month on my husband and I, unless I am sick or have any unusual job," Ms. Hai shared.
Ms. Hai and her husband have a son in grade 2, currently living with his grandparents in the countryside. Every month, Ms. Hai sends her grandparents 3 million VND to feed their children to study and help them buy more food. With the method of calculating the basic budget and spending frugally, Ms. Hai earns about 10 million VND per month. According to Ms. Hai, this amount of money was to save to build a house in her hometown. The couple decided to work in the city when they have enough money to build a house and some capital to do business, they will return to their hometown to do business.
"Living here, I don't dare to install air conditioners for fear of spending more electricity in the summer months. The couple worked all day in the factory with air conditioners, and at night they encouraged each other to work hard, finished eating rice and showered to cool off, then went to sleep, Ms. Hai said.
Also using the "trick" of minimizing costs such as Ms. Hai and her husband, Ms. Bui Thi Lanh and Mr. Do Ngoc Minh after 4 years of working as workers in Hanoi, they have saved quite a lot of capital.
Ms. Lanh and her husband both work for a fertilizer company in Thanh Tri commune (Hanoi), with a total salary of about 16 million VND/month. Ms. Lanh said that the couple agreed that the rent, food and living expenses did not exceed 7 million VND, the remaining amount she sent back to her hometown every month was 4 million VND for her grandparents to take care of their 2 children's education.
"With about 5 million VND left each month, I was determined not to come and save it as capital. The couple decided to go to Hanoi for about a hundred years, work with capital, then return to their hometown to start a business, taking care of their children. Currently, my husband also visits a relative's house to learn how to repair motorbikes after work. Hopefully he will soon master the profession and return to his hometown to open a motorbike repair shop," Ms. Lanh said about her future plans.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong - former Director of the Institute of Social Labor Science - commented that if most of the current workers do not work overtime regularly, their income will only be enough to cover essential expenses. To accumulate, they have to work more and spend very little, calculating every degree.
"In the context of escalating prices, life in urban areas is increasingly difficult, so workers' families have to struggle to make a living for daily life and have some savings and self-defense. Most of them have to cut spending such as entertainment, shopping... to have money to cover their children's education, maintain their lives and save a little," said Ms. Huong.
According to a survey conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in March and April 2025 with nearly 3,000 workers in 10 provinces and cities, 54.9% of workers said that their current income is just enough to cover basic expenses; 26.3% have to live comfortably and miserably; Notably, 7.9% are not enough to live on, having to do other jobs to earn more income.
